


In the Morning Light

by deathishauntedbyhumans



Series: Coming Around [2]
Category: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Internal Conflict, Internal Monologue, Literal Sleeping Together, M/M, Non-Sexual Intimacy, Pre-Canon, Pre-Relationship, Scars, Selectively Mute Link (Legend of Zelda), Self Confidence Issues, Wordcount: 1.000-3.000, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-13
Updated: 2020-02-13
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:01:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22698310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deathishauntedbyhumans/pseuds/deathishauntedbyhumans
Summary: Revali reflects on his feelings about (and for) Link.
Relationships: Link/Revali (Legend of Zelda)
Series: Coming Around [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1632586
Comments: 15
Kudos: 289





	In the Morning Light

**Author's Note:**

> I didn’t mean to make a companion piece to _Choosing Sides_ , but I woke up this morning and this kicked me in the ass!
> 
> Link is selectively mute in that he can technically speak, but it pains him very much to do so because of an injury he sustained prior to this series.

Revali awakens before Link does. 

It’s not an unusual occurrence; Revali is more than used to being awake as or even before the sun rises, given his troubling lack of sleep most nights and his inability to sleep more than a few hours when he finally manages to get any rest at all. When he awakens, he usually goes for a morning flight around wherever they’ve camped for the night, and then meets up with Urbosa to train until everyone else has joined them. She’s the only one who tends to awaken as early as he, since Link and the princesses tended to sleep in and Daruk would sleep for days without waking if he were ever permitted. 

The unusual part of this particular morning comes in the warmth of the Hylian snuggled tightly against his feathers, and the fact that Revali feels more rested than he has since even before he’d left Rito Village on this harrowing quest to defeat the Calamity.

Link is still very much asleep, tucked in neatly against Revali’s chest like he belongs there. It’s unfair, really, just how peaceful he looks. His face, as drawn and pale as it had been the night before, is soft and relaxed now. His eyelids flutter a little as Revali watches him, but he remains firmly lost in his deep slumber. 

If they hadn’t had the conversation they’d had the night before, Revali might have shoved Link away from him, pushed him down onto his mat and rushed out of the tent. He would have felt no guilt in going for his morning flight, in ignoring Link the way he normally did. 

But everything that had transpired between them, their talk, Link’s utter _desperation_ to forge some kind of bond between them… It chips away at Revali’s resolve to run, to shimmy his way out of Link’s warm embrace and pretend like nothing had changed between them. Because despite Revali’s whispered _this doesn’t change things_ right before Link had dragged him into his tent _,_ something _had_ shifted. When Link had opened his mouth to speak to _him,_ a dam had burst in Revali’s chest, and any resolve he had to continue hating the hero had begun a slow process of siphoning away entirely.

Link shivers and Revali automatically draws him closer, curling his wing carefully around Link’s exposed shoulders. Link burrows into the hold, wiggling in his sleep until he’s comfortable, and then lets out a content little sigh. Revali wishes in vain that his chest didn’t tighten at the sight. 

It frightens him, how easily Link has managed to break his resolve to be aloof, to ignore and belittle the Hylian Champion until he feels better about his own place in their motley group of warriors. But he can’t stop thinking about Link’s _voice,_ the agonised whisper he’d forced out… the look on his face when he’d stopped talking and clutched at his throat, his face as pale as the moon above them.

Curiosity lodges itself in Revali’s mind, and no matter what he attempts to distract himself with, it’s impossible for him to deny how strong the urge to see Link’s injury for himself is. He thinks about touching Link’s throat the night before, brushing his feathers slowly over the abused column, applying just the barest hint of pressure and watching Link’s eyes slam shut for it. 

Slowly, achingly slowly, with more patience than he’s ever given anything regarding Link before, he shifts until he can see Link’s throat. He ignores the ridiculous, sudden desire to stare into Link’s face until he awakens and instead drags his gaze downward, just above the cream-coloured cloth of his undershirt. In the soft morning light filtering through the tent, he can just make out the scarring he’d been so curious to see. 

It’s healed over well, as though someone like Mipha had applied their touch to the wound. The scar tissue is so light that Revali isn’t surprised that he’s never noticed it before. If he hadn’t been this close to Link and looking for it, he doubts he would have noticed it otherwise on his own. 

Without thinking about it, he slowly draws one of his wings away from Link’s sleeping form. It’s all too easy to give into the urge to touch, to trace the faint, jagged scars that run over the expanse of Link’s throat, down until they stop just below his collarbone. It fills him with the bizarre urge to _protect,_ to keep this idiot _safe,_ because if Revali doesn’t, then who else will? 

(Daruk and Mipha and Urbosa will, but they can only do so much for him individually, just like Revali, as much as he’s loathe to admit it.) 

As much as he hates Link for _showing him up,_ Revali is well-aware of how reckless Link can be on a battlefield. He’s seen him in action, seen the risks that he takes, seen Mipha scolding him as she patches him up after a fight. As much as Revali hates it, they _need_ Link to survive, because without him, they don’t have a hero who can defeat Calamity Ganon. 

There’s a softness that Revali can’t quell settling inside of him, and it’s with that gentle warmth that he glances up at Link’s face, fully expecting to see him slumbering comfortably. He _doesn’t_ expect to see Link’s eyes open, watching him with a warmth that matches the crackling fire in Revali’s own chest, and it startles him enough to rip his wing away from Link’s throat like he’s been burned. 

Link’s eyes crinkle in amusement, but it doesn’t anger Revali the way it normally would. He’s much too busy feeling embarrassed and _ashamed_ of himself for allowing even a moment of such terrible weakness. 

_Good morning,_ Link signs, a small smile on his face. Dimly, Revali recognises that Link looks as well-rested as he feels, but it’s a thought that pales in comparison to the hot shame of being caught touching Link _again_ like he’s some sort of… of… _thing_ to be _revered._

“I—“ Revali is already moving, trying to extricate himself from Link’s sleepy hold. “Yes, good morning, whatever—“

Link makes a lunge that Revali might have called stupid if it hadn't worked. As it is, it’s _still_ stupid, but it ends with Revali damn-near tackled, with Link’s arms around him, pinning him to the sleeping mat. Revali stares up at him with wide eyes, and Link grins at him. 

When Revali has stopped trying to wiggle out of Link’s grip (he _could_ shove him off, but it doesn’t feel right when he was touching Link so reverently only moments ago, and he doesn’t want to risk actually hurting Link in the process) Link sits up, now effectively straddling him so that he can sign. _It’s okay to look, Revali. I don’t mind. They’re just scars._

Revali feels… ashamed, and _nervous,_ and he hates that he feels both ways almost as much as he hates the fact that Link has him pinned. “I was just making sure you didn’t hurt yourself any further last night,” he says, shooting for imperious and missing it by a mile when his voice cracks in the middle of his sentence. His cheeks beneath his feathers burn so hotly that Revali is certain Link will be able to tell that he’s flushed. 

_You’re allowed to not have a reason,_ Link replies without missing a beat. He levels Revali with a pointed look and then reaches for one of his wings, threading his fingers gently through the feathers at its tip. Revali almost chokes, but he’s stunned into silence at the easy intimacy behind such a casual touch. 

“You’re...” Revali trails off, because he has no idea how to finish the sentence. He’s so beyond out of his depth here that he feels like he’s drowning, and Link’s big, understanding gaze is only making him feel even more ruffled. 

Outside the tent, the sound of Urbosa’s grunting catches both of their attention at once. Revali catches Link glancing towards the sound before he follows his gaze to the wall of the tent as well. 

“She’ll be expecting me to train with her,” Revali says. If he doesn’t address the new tension between them, perhaps it will merely go away on its own?

Link squeezes his feathers before letting go again, and Revali somehow highly doubts that any of this will actually go away, checked or unchecked. _I’ll come out with you. Give me a minute to change?_

As Link pulls his armour back on, shimmying lithely in the tiny tent not made for two, Revali pretends he’s not staring. Link catches his eye and winks, and Revali ignores that it makes his cheeks hot all over again. 

_Ready?_

“I’m always ready,” Revali snips. It lacks his usual malice towards Link, though, and he can tell that Link notices, because a surprised sort of pleasure slides over his face. It reminds Revali of the sun rising, and it warms him just the same. 

_After you,_ Link says, gesturing to the mouth of the tent with a dramatic sweep of his arm. Revali rolls his eyes and slips outside, with Link right behind him at his heels. 

Urbosa gives them —gives _Revali—_ a look he can’t describe when she catches sight of them both walking towards her from Link’s tent, and for one terrible moment, he’s certain that she’s going to say something about it. 

What will he say in response? What _can_ he say? _Link wanted to speak to me in his tent?_ He can’t tell her that they spent the night curled up together in the too-small confines of the tiny cloth enclosure. Revali himself isn’t sure what’s going on between him and Link anymore— how can he expect Urbosa to understand, to not poke fun at whatever the hell is happening to him? 

But after one more curious glance towards Link’s tent, she greets them without question, and they fall into their normal training routine without any further incident. 

If Revali finds himself distracted more than usual by the Hylian Champion, it’s because he looks awful with his hair still mussed from sleep, and not because Revali keeps thinking about sleeping at his side, about the softness of his skin beneath his wingtips, about the lines disappearing from Link’s face whilst he slumbered. 

Nothing has changed, Revali tells himself firmly. Somehow, though, when Link catches his eye later that day and grins like they share a secret, he can’t help but _feel_ like everything around him has shifted without his permission, and that he is suddenly as helpless to the hands of fate as he was when Link and not he was chosen as the warrior to wield the sword that seals the darkness. 

**Author's Note:**

> I might write more for this series who knows 👀 
> 
> Revali was definitely going to call him a bastard. 
> 
> Kudos/comments are love! Come scream at me on tumblr @deathishauntedbyhumans.


End file.
